Sgt. Slaughter
Sgt. Slaughter | |
---|---|
Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Bob Remus[1] Bob Slaughter[1] The Executioner[1] Sgt. Slaughter[1] Super Destroyer Mark II[1] Matt Burns[2] |
Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)[3] |
Billed weight | 305 lb (138 kg)[3] |
Billed from | Parris Island, South Carolina[4][5] |
Trained by | Verne Gagne[1] |
Debut | 1972[1] |
Retired | 2014 |
Robert Rudolph Remus
From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Slaughter had success in the
The gimmick of Sgt. Slaughter is that of a former U.S. Marine who fought in the Vietnam War. Remus himself never served in the military. He received several draft deferments and even opposed the war, often protesting and demonstrating within the antiwar movement. This has caused controversy because, at times, Remus has talked about military service while seeming to be speaking as himself, and not in kayfabe character. This has led to accusations of cowardice and stolen valor.[8][9][10]
Early life
Remus was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Eden Prairie High School in nearby Eden Prairie, where he wrestled and played football.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1972–1980)
Remus was trained by Verne Gagne in Minnesota for American Wrestling Association (AWA) territory in 1972. In 1974, he made his debut in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver. Then he made his first tour in Japan in January 1975 for International Wrestling Enterprise and July 1975 for All Japan Pro wrestling.
Remus held numerous regional titles early in his career and experienced his second major success in the
World Wrestling Federation (1980–1981)
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (January 2024) |
He then signed with the WWF and was pushed as a
National Wrestling Alliance, Catch Wrestling Association (1981–1983)
In September 1981, Slaughter joined the National Wrestling Alliance, mainly wrestling for its flagship territory
In September 1982, Slaughter and partner Don Kernodle were awarded the NWA World Tag Team Championship, claiming a title victory over Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba in Tokyo. They would be in a heated rivalry with the team of Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood, which culminated on March 12, 1983, losing the titles to Steamboat and Youngblood in a steel cage match in Greensboro, North Carolina. After the rivalry ended, Slaughter left JCP.
During this period, Slaughter also toured Germany and Austria for the Catch Wrestling Association, twice (in 1982 and 1983) unsuccessfully challenging CWA World Heavyweight Champion Otto Wanz.[11]
Return to WWF (1983–1984)
Slaughter returned to the WWF in March 1983, and again took on the Grand Wizard as his manager. He immediately targeted Backlund, who was still the reigning WWF World Heavyweight Champion. Slaughter turned up the feud another notch when he attacked Backlund at a television taping; Backlund was in the process of completing the Harvard step test before Slaughter beat him repeatedly with his riding crop, leaving bruises on his back. Although he won several matches by disqualification, he never won the title.
In early 1984, Slaughter's career took off after he turned face and defended America's honor against The Iron Sheik from Iran. They had many matches throughout the year, culminating in a boot camp match that took place before a sold-out Madison Square Garden that summer. With Hulk Hogan rising as the WWF World Heavyweight Champion and lead face within the company, Slaughter left for the AWA.
On Vince McMahon's McMahon DVD, Slaughter said he was fired by McMahon in Toronto after no-showing an event in protest of McMahon's refusal to give him six weeks of paid vacation. Other interviews with Slaughter and McMahon have revealed that Slaughter left the company more over a dispute that emerged due to the WWF not allowing Slaughter's role in the G.I. Joe toy line.[12] Sports editor and columnist Lew Freedman wrote of Slaughter's popularity in the wake of his face turn in August 1985: "Talk about your overnight sensations. Slaughter had been wrestling for 10 years and suddenly he was hotter than Dwight Gooden".[13]
American Wrestling Association (1985–1990)
He received a considerable push in the
In 1988, Slaughter returned to wrestling in the AWA, resuming some of his past feuds with the likes of Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey, the Iron Sheik, and Col. DeBeers. He also became a top contender to the AWA World title during Larry Zbyszko's reign in 1989 and was a team captain for the AWA's ill-fated Team Challenge Series during the first half of 1990. The AWA even teased fans with Slaughter appearing to win the World title from Zbyszko live on ESPN, only to have the decision reversed on a technicality (a booking practice the AWA had been employing for years).
Second return to the WWF (1990 - 1994)
Iraqi sympathizer (1990–1991)
After WrestleMania VI, Slaughter sent a letter to Vince McMahon saying he loved the program and was interested in returning. McMahon told Slaughter he wanted a heel, and his new gimmick would be that Slaughter turned on the United States due to its acceptance of the Russian Nikolai Volkoff to Slaughter, he found it difficult to do the anti-American promos associated with this gimmick.[citation needed]
The August 1990
As 1990 ended, Slaughter began challenging for the
Various feuds (1991–1994)
After finishing the Hogan
Slaughter started appearing as an on-air official from October 1992 to June 1994. He made his first wrestling appearance in over a year when he appeared on a house show version of a Royal Rumble that was held on January 17, 1994, at Madison Square Garden. After helping to eliminate Adam Bomb he, in turn, was tossed out by Crush. Later that year he would wrestle on four house shows in July in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, facing and defeating Quebecer Pierre. He left the company in September.[15]
Third return to the WWF (1997–2009)
WWF Commissioner and sporadic appearances (1997–2009)
After a hiatus, he returned to WWF television on the August 4, 1997, episode of Raw Is War to assume the role of on-air commissioner by (kayfabe) President Gorilla Monsoon who in reality retired from being on camera due to health issues. Initially popular, he eventually became the target of D-Generation X (DX), who called him "Sgt. Slobber". On an episode of Raw Is War, he put Shawn Michaels and Triple H in a match for Michaels' European Championship. Michaels dropped the belt to Helmsley by lying down in the ring. Slaughter challenged Triple H to a Boot Camp match at the December pay-per-view, which he lost. His feud with Triple H continued into WrestleMania XIV where he handcuffed himself to Chyna to prevent her from interfering with Helmsley's match against Owen Hart. But Slaughter's efforts ultimately proved futile, as Chyna threw powder into his eyes, interfered with the match anyway, and hurled Slaughter into the front row.
In 1998, Slaughter turned heel, joined Vince McMahon along with Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson, and became the on-screen lackeys of McMahon; running errands for him and dishing out punishment to McMahon's rivals, namely Steve Austin. In late 1998, Slaughter relinquished the role of commissioner to Shawn Michaels and largely disappeared from television. On September 15, on Raw, Slaughter lost to Al Snow in a Boot Camp match.
Slaughter still appeared from time to time in the ring, mostly at house shows. He appeared on Raw to put over younger wrestlers, such as Kurt Angle and Funaki. Slaughter also made an appearance at WrestleMania X-Seven, in the gimmick Battle Royal, which was won by The Iron Sheik. Slaughter got his revenge after the match by locking the Sheik in the cobra clutch. He also appeared on both Raw and SmackDown on occasion during the Invasion storyline in non-wrestling roles, usually in conjunction with Vince McMahon.
On November 24, 2003, he lost to Randy Orton on Raw as Orton became the Legend Killer.[16]
On January 31, 2005, episode of Raw, he lost to (kayfabe) Saudi Arabian wrestler Muhammad Hassan. He made a special appearance on June 13, 2005, episode of Raw to challenge Chris Masters in his "Master Lock Challenge", which Slaughter lost. Then, he returned again on December 5 episode of Raw, where he and Michael Hayes confronted Edge. He also appeared on the July 4, 2006 episode of Raw for a "Diva Boot Camp" segment, as a part of the 2006 Diva Search Competition.[17]
He re-appeared on October 2 episode of Raw, defeating Nicky from the Spirit Squad with a roll-up when D-Generation X (DX) distracted him from up on the TitanTron. Slaughter appeared on the October 23 Raw in the corner of Ric Flair as he faced Kenny of the Spirit Squad. After Kenny cheated to gain the victory, Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, and Roddy Piper cleared the tag champions from the ring. Slaughter was one of three options between himself, Roddy Piper, and Dusty Rhodes that fans could vote for as a tag partner for Ric Flair at Cyber Sunday, but did not win the vote. At Survivor Series, Slaughter teamed with Flair, Ron Simmons, and Dusty Rhodes to take on four members of the Spirit Squad in a Survivor Series match. Slaughter was eliminated in the match, but his team won, with Flair as the sole survivor.
On December 18, 2006, Slaughter participated in a 30-man battle royal for a chance to face
Slaughter, who had been working as a producer for WWE for the past several years, was released from his backstage producer duties with the company on January 13, 2009.[18]
Independent circuit (1994–2014)
His first appearance on the independent circuit was at
Fourth return to WWE (2009–present)
He was the special guest host on Raw on August 10, 2009, where he made fun of Canadians and saying how the USA is the greatest country in the world. He made an appearance on the Decade of SmackDown on October 2, 2009, where he had an altercation with the Iron Sheik about which country was the greatest, USA or Iran. Slaughter would appear on November 15, 2010's
Slaughter made an appearance on November 24, 2014, edition of Raw, where he confronted United States Champion
Slaughter made a one-night appearance to WWE for the special Raw Reunion on July 22, 2019.
Slaughter was in attendance at the February 5, 2020 episode of NXT.
On January 4, 2021, Slaughter made an appearance on the Legends Night special episode of Raw.
Other media
Slaughter voices an adult-oriented version of himself in the animated WWE Network Exclusive show Camp WWE.
Fictionalized versions of Sgt. Slaughter were part of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, animated series and comic books, as a member of the G.I. Joe team and first appeared in the five-part TV episode entitled "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!" Along with the traditional merchandising of WWE superstars, Sgt. Slaughter is one of only a few real people to be produced as a G.I. Joe figure, (NFL football player William "The Refrigerator" Perry, pro-wrestler Roddy Piper, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin are some of the others), and even appeared in G.I. Joe: The Movie.
Slaughter also appeared twice as a special guest on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which starred fellow wrestler Captain Lou Albano. He appeared in the episodes "All Steamed Up" (in "Butch Mario and the Luigi Kid") and "Caught in a Draft" (in "Bad Rap").
During the mid-1980s, Sgt. Slaughter released a full-length LP, Sgt. Slaughter and Camouflage Rocks America. It featured a number of original songs, including "The Cobra Clutch," as well as a cover of Neil Diamond's "America".
A brief cross promotional stint in the late 1980s had Sgt. Slaughter and his "battling battalion" pitted against the Bigfoot Monster Truck in a tug-of-war challenge. It is featured on Blood, Sweat, & Gears USHRA home video. This stunt was recently attempted again with Sgt. Slaughter using fans from the crowd at a Monster Truck show to tug-o-war with Bigfoot.
He was featured in the 1989 video game Sgt. Slaughter's Mat Wars by Mindscape.[21]
In the animated series Code Monkeys, Slaughter appeared as Sgt. Murder. He and Bulk Brogan (Hulk Hogan), "Manly Man" Ricky Ravage (Randy "Macho Man" Savage), and Sergei the Giant (André the Giant) were hired by a video game company to take on their rivals. His brother, Tommy Murder, was killed by "The Black Shadow", who really was Black Steve, the company's accountant.
He appeared on episode #3.6 of Comedy Central's Tosh.0, when he clotheslined Daniel Tosh and put David Wills (a.k.a. YouTube's "Crying Wrestling Fan") in a Cobra Clutch during Wills' "Web Redemption" segment.
In 2014, Sgt. Slaughter made a cameo appearance in the RadioShack Super Bowl XLVIII commercial "The '80s Called".[22]
He later voiced Dr. Military in the 2013 animated series Teen Titans Go! in a two-part episode called "Teen Titans Vroom!"
Championships and accomplishments
- American Wrestling Association
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- Iron Mike Mazurki Award (2011)[25]
- Central States Wrestling
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Pak Song[27]
- George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Class of 2019 (Frank Gotch Award)[28]
- Maple Leaf Wrestling
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
- National Wrestling Federation
- NWF Americas Championship (1 time)[33]
- Northeast Championship Wrestling (Tom Janette)
- NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[33]
- NWA Tri-State
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Tri-State version) (1 time) – with Buck Robley
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1991)[34]
- Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1984)[35]
- Ranked No. 36 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991[36]
- Ranked No. 34 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003[37]
- Ranked No. 29 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Don Kernodle in 2003[38]
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Class of 2016[39]
- USA Pro Wrestling
- USA Pro Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[40]
- World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Pat Patterson in an Alley Fight
- Match of the Year (1983) with Don Kernodle vs. Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood in an Steel Cage match
- Most Unimproved (1985)
- Most Washed Up Wrestler (1985)
- Boris Zhukov
- Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1991) Iraqi sympathizer angle
- Worst Feud of the Year (1991) vs. Hulk Hogan
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (2023)
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h [citation needed]
- ^ "Sgt. Slaughter « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7434-9033-7.
- ^ "Sgt. Slaughter". WWE. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Keller, Wade (January 19, 1991). "Slaughter Wins WWF Title". PWTorch. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
- ^ Cadwell, James (April 16, 2014). "WWE NEWS: Raw script leak - several roster updates, including injuries, time off, heel or face?, Zayn call-up?, more". PWTorch. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
- ^ "Sgt. Slaughter valor theft PART 1". The Baltimore Sun. March 24, 1985. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ Ziezulewicz, Geoff (February 27, 2020). "The man behind pro wrestling legend Sgt. Slaughter tells stories of combat tours in Vietnam. But he never served". Military Times. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
- ^ Stern, Karl. "Sgt. Slaughter in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame". When It Was Cool - Retro Pop Culture, Comics, Pro Wrestling, Toys, TV, Movies, and Podcasts. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
- ^ "CWA Catch Wrestling Association (1982 - 1985)".
- ^ McClead, Michael (July 29, 2019). "5 Things You Didn't Know About Sgt. Slaughter". Sportskeeda. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
- The McClatchy Company. p. B1.
- ^ Observer Staff (February 25, 1991). "February 25, 1991 Observer Newsletter: Full Wrestlemania card released". F4WOnline.com. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 10, 2019. (subscription required)
- ^ "1993". thehistoryofwwe.com. January 16, 2023.
- ^ "Online World of Wrestling". www.onlineworldofwrestling.com.
- ^ Zeigler, Zack (July 14, 2006). "Sgt. Slaughter runs the Diva Boot Camp on SmackDown". WWE. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ "Sgt. Slaughter & Ron Simmons Released From WWE". PWNewsNow.com. January 13, 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
- ^ "WWA « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
- ^ "Matches « Sgt. Slaughter « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
- ^ "Compute! Gazette Issue 82". April 1990.
- ^ Jones, Nate (February 2, 2014). "Celebrating Every '80s Reference in That RadioShack Super Bowl Commercial". People. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ AWA America's Title history At solie.org
- ^ AWA British Empire Heavyweight Title history At solie.org
- ^ Oliver, Greg (April 20, 2011). "Lifetime honoree Foley captivates at CAC Baloney Blowout". Slam Wrestling. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ NWA Central States Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ "NWA Georgia Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
- ^ "2019 TRAGOS/THESZ PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME CLASS ANNOUNCED | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
- ^ NWA Canadian Heavyweight Title (Toronto) history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ NWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ "WWE United States Championship". Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ^ NWA World Tag Team Title (Mid-Atlantic/WCW) history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "Pro-Wrestling Illustrated Most Hated Wrestler of the Year". wwe-zone.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
- ^ "Pro-Wrestling Illustrated Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year". wwe-zone.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
- ^ "Pro-Wrestling Illustrated 500 - 1991". wwe-zone.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
- ^ "Pro-Wrestling Illustrated Top 100 Tag-Teams". wwe-zone.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
- ^ "PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME MOVING FROM UPSTATE NEW YORK TO TEXAS". PWInsider. November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- ^ "USA Pro Heavyweight Championship History".
- ^ WWWF/WWF/WWE World Heavyweight Title history At wrestling-titles.com
- ^ WWF/WWE Hall of Fame inductees At wrestling-titles.com